***I do not own neither Cardcaptor Sakura nor the 1998 film Ever After (which this story is based on).*** Please enjoy and review!

Ages:

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Meiling - 19

Syaoran, Eriol, and Ryan - 21

Chiyo - 53, Maiyume - 50

Mina – 21, Yoojin – 20, Satsuki - 43

Ever After

Chapter 7 – An Unexpected Encounter

Recap

"Uh, forgive me, Your Highness." Sakura suddenly said blushing, taking off the Prince's coat and returning it to him. "I've lost track of the hour. Tomoyo, we must go."

"Oh, please stay a while longer!" Meiling pleaded, wishing Syaoran more time with Sakura.

"Yes, the wind is perfect for flying kites." Eriol said, not wanting Tomoyo to leave. Tomoyo was looking at Sakura, hoping they could stay.

"I'm very sorry, but we must be going. We have other errands to run." Sakura said, pulling Tomoyo to come with her. They were walking in a fast pace getting away from the royal party.

Syaoran didn't want Sakura to go. 'When would be the next time they meet?' He thought.

"Eriol and I are playing tennis tomorrow at noon! Will you come?" Syaoran shouted after them, but they were already out of ear's reach.

Syaoran sighed and looked to both Meiling and Eriol. "Why does she keep running off like that?"

Hamasaki Residence

It was dinnertime and Satsuki, Mina, and Yoojin were gathered at the dining hall eating their supper. Satsuki, who was sitting at the head, stopped eating when she suddenly realized something was missing from the table.

"Maiyume…" Satsuki called sharply.

Maiyume was dosing off, when Chiyo nudged her at the sound of Satsuki's harsh voice. All of the servants were standing at the back of the dining hall in case one of the ladies requested anything from them.

"Yes, my lady." Maiyume replied, standing up straight now fully alert.

"Where are the candlesticks? We can hardly see our plates." Satsuki asked in disbelief.

"They've gone missing, my lady. I've searched high and low. The painting upstairs is gone too." Maiyume answered.

Satsuki glanced at all four servants and stated, "It seems we have a thief in our midst...so this is how I'm treated, after all our years together. My late husband's prized possessions?"

When no one said anything, Satsuki continued, "Well then….I shall just lower your wages until the stolen items are returned. Is that quite understood?"

Sakura glanced worriedly from her stepmother to her three closest friends. 'This isn't right…'

Maiyume, Chiyo, and Tomoyo all looked down and answered obediently, "Yes, ma'am."

Satsuki continued cutting at her meat and said, "Perhaps I should just ship you all to the Xi kingdom with the rest of thieves."

Mina gave a smirk at her mother's statement, while Yoojin replied, "Oh, haven't you heard, mother? The prince went to the king and asked him to release all of those people."

Sakura could not believe what she had just heard. The prince who she had thought to be arrogant, thoughtless, and selfish requested the release of all of those people who was with Chiyo that day.

Before Sakura could stop herself, she exclaimed, "He didn't!"

Satsuki glared back at Sakura and was suspicious of her sudden outburst. Sakura quickly regained her composure and glanced towards the floor. Tomoyo couldn't help but to smile at Sakura's exclamation.

Satsuki sat back straight and was listening Yoojin's news. Yoojin continued, "Yes, he did! And now by royal decree, any man or woman who sails must be compensated."

Satsuki scoffed, "Compensated? Oh, honestly. What is this world coming to?"

Sakura noticed that her stepmother's wine glass was nearly finished and so she picked up the wine jug from the stand next to her and carried it over to refill her glass.

Meanwhile, Mina brought up, "Well all I want to know is who is this courtier everyone keeps talking about?"

Sakura's expression on her face became nervous, as she dropped what she was doing down to a slower pace in order to listen carefully.

Mina continued, "There must have been 10 courtiers talking today about how the prince fell over himself."

Tomoyo, Chiyo, and Maiyume glanced at Sakura and all gave a smile.

Satsuki reassured her daughter, "Well, we shall find out who she is and bury her."

Sakura went to pick up the glass but accidently missed causing it to knock over. Fortunately, Satsuki had finished the wine that was in it and Sakura was able to pick it up quickly. However, Satsuki noticed her stepdaughter's uneasiness and carefully glanced at her. Sakura, feeling her stepmother's glare, tried her best to go on refilling her wine cup calmly.

The Next Day - Royal Tennis Courts

Syaoran dribbled the tennis ball a few times, looked at where he wanted the ball to land, threw the ball up into the air and served it towards his opponent.

Eriol returned it with ease, directing the ball opposite of Syaoran's current position. Syaoran smirked, knowing Eriol wasn't going to trick him that easily. He ran to the opposite side and somehow made it before the ball got there and smashed it back. Eriol dove towards the ball and was barely able to return it. He lobbed it high back to Syaoran's side. Syaoran, keeping his eyes on the ball, stepped back a few paces preparing his form. He hit the ball perfectly and with great force that Eriol missed it by a hair.

The crowd cheered happily for their prince who had won 4 sets in a row. Syaoran waved back at the crowd. He walked towards his defeated opponent and shook his hand. "Game. Set. Match."

Eriol returned the gesture and said, "I must admit, I did not take you for the tennis type."

Syaoran raised his eyebrow, "Do you mean to say you went easy on me?"

"Oh, I would never." Eriol answered sarcastically, leaving Syaoran to wonder.

Meiling, who was watching from the sidelines, ran up to the pair and said, "Great game cousin, but it seems to me like Eriol went easy on you." Eriol let out a chuckle, while Syaoran glared at both of them.

They walked towards the side bench to rest for a moment. Eriol grabbed his towel to wipe off his dripping sweat, while Syaoran was handed a glass of water from his attendant. He took a sip and started to look around at the crowd. He had hope that his eyes would meet those unique emerald eyes of a certain noble woman. Instead, Syaoran noticed a silver embroidered handkerchief fall unto the court. He walked towards it, picked it up, and read the words "Hamasaki" scripted onto it. He looked around to see who it could belong to and saw Mina staring directly at him with an innocent smile.

Syaoran, knowing full well the tricks of women having been exposed to that throughout his entire life, walked up to her and greeted, "You're looking well, Mina."

Mina was wearing an ornate bright red gown and a long pearl necklace that reached her waist which made her stick out easily from the rest of the crowd. She had her long blonde hair braided back into a fishtail with white daisy petals decorating her head.

She gave the prince a seductive smile and responded, "You're welcome to look, Your Highness."

Meiling and Eriol gave a disgusted glance at each other at that remark. While Syaoran, trying to be polite, gave a light chuckle back at Mina.

Marketplace

"I still cannot believe what Yoojin and Mina said last night during supper, Sakura." Tomoyo squealed. Tomoyo, Chiyo, Maiyume, and Sakura was managing their stall at the marketplace, selling vegetables and fruits they harvested from Sakura's farm.

"I honestly can't seem to wrap my head around it either." Sakura replied, organizing a pile of apples.

Chiyo smiled, "Well you definitely have the prince's attention. He's asking about you all over the kingdom!"

Sakura looked at all three of them and was about to respond, when a creepy voice interrupted them.

"Who is asking about you all over the kingdom?"

They turned around to see landowner, Takeshi Oshiro, a sly, womanizer who unfortunately is also a nobleman.

Sakura rolled her eyes and turned away from the new company. Takeshi walked closer to her and said, "Is that how you're supposed to treat your customer?"

Sakura looked down at the pile of apples, ignoring Takeshi's question. She runs into Takeshi almost every week, since he buys from their stall and he has always acted the same: deceptive, flirtatious, and most of all greedy. Sakura remembered her father's encounters with Takeshi and they were the only times she would witness Fujitaka raise his voice. Ever since, Sakura had come to detest Takeshi and dreaded seeing him around the kingdom.

Takeshi moved on and placed his rough hand on Sakura's chin forcing her to look at him. "You get prettier every week."

Sakura quickly pushed his hand away and replied, "And you are wasting your flattery."

Takeshi did not appreciate that remark and retorted, "It's a pity your soil's the best in the kingdom and yet...so poorly tended."

Maiyume stepped in and said, "We have limited resources, sir. We do the best we can."

"Oh?" Takeshi started, "Anything I can do?"

Chiyo replied strongly, "Perhaps you should bring it up with Lady Satsuki and leave us to our business."

"I'd rather discuss it with Sakura, if you don't mind." Takeshi glared at Sakura, "I may be twice your age, child, but I'm well-endowed, as evidence by my estate."

Sakura was sick of hearing his voice. She started to walk away, with Tomoyo, Maiyume, and Chiyo following closely behind her.

However, Takeshi is nothing but persistent and soon cut her off, "I've always had a soft spot for the less fortunate. You need a wealthy benefactor, and I need a young lady with spirit."

Sakura bit her tongue to keep her from saying anything harshly, and instead ignored his remark, gave a fake smile, and said, "Would you like some prunes, sir?"

Takeshi gave a disgusted look, "No. I will buy nothing this week. And you'd do well to remember that without my generosity your pathetic little farm would cease to exist."

Sakura's smile vanished and turned into a glare.

Takeshi continued, "So I would be very, very careful if I were you." He gave one last creepy smile and walked away.

Tomoyo was furious, "Oooh, what a horrible man! If he didn't buy his vegetables from us, I'd spit on him!"

Sakura sighed and went back to work collecting eggs from a chicken cage, "Well at least he's gone for the day."

"You know he'll be back," responded Chiyo in a worried tone.

Meanwhile

After their tennis match, Syaoran, Eriol, and Meiling went for a stroll around the marketplace. And to Syaoran's detestment, he was forced to invite Mina, her sister, and her mother along at the request of his mother who witnessed their interaction at the tennis court.

'In her own way, my mother is just like my father. Forcing me into arrangements with a hidden agenda.' Syaoran thought to himself.

Syaoran and Mina led the group. Eriol and Meiling followed closely behind, while Yoojin and Satsuki were trailing at the end. Syaoran was struggling to think of a conversation topic with Mina, when one of his attendants gave him a tray of sweets.

"Oh, here." Syaoran offered the tray to Mina, "Never have you tasted anything so delicious."

Mina smiled, closed her eyes and opened her mouth. Syaoran was confused and glanced at Eriol and Meiling, who was in utter shock at Mina's behavior. Meiling was especially annoyed at her. Syaoran then realized Mina wanted him to hand feed the sweets to her. Satsuki gave a smirk in the background, proud of her daughter's quick thinking.

Syaoran unwilling popped a small green-colored treat into her mouth trying very carefully not to touch her lips. Mina opened her eyes and stared directly into Syaoran's eyes seductively.

Yoojin looked at the tray of treats and let out a "Yumm…" and made a pass to help herself to one. However, her mother stopped her before Yoojin could get near them.

"Don't even think about ruining their moment together," she whispered.

"Like it?" Syaoran asked Mina.

After Mina swallowed the treat she said, "Like it? Why, it's positively sinful! What's it called?"

"Green tea mochi." Syaoran answered, and the entire group continued walking, "The Japanese keep sending bricks of it."

Mina glanced at the stall where Sakura, Maiyume, Chiyo, and Tomoyo were working. "These are our servants, Your Highness."

Syaoran remembered what the Kinomoto lady said to him the other day after helping her release her servant, 'Well, you gave one person back their life…but did you even glance at the others?' Ever since, Syaoran has tried to be more courteous and aware of how he treated his own servants.

"Really? Oh, I'd love to meet them." Syaoran replied genuinely.

Meanwhile, Chiyo and Maiyume were carrying bunches of potatoes when they both realized Mina, Yoojin, Satsuki, and the prince were walking towards them. They looked as if they just saw a ghost.

Sakura and Tomoyo were busy trying to collect some eggs from the chickens' cage.

"Here, you pick them up and I'll quickly get the eggs." Sakura suggested to Tomoyo.

Then they both heard a familiar voice coming from behind, "Good day, ladies."

Sakura's heart dropped, 'The prince! He'll see Tomoyo and me!'

Chaos ensued at this small stall. Tomoyo panicked, turned around, and threw the chickens she was carrying towards the group. Both Chiyo and Maiyume also threw up their potatoes due to the chickens being released. While everyone was shooing the chickens away, Sakura and Tomoyo were quick to react, and ran away from the scene. Chiyo and Maiyume noticed them gone and tried to block their view from the prince.

Satsuki hurried to the front angrily, "What are you doing, trying to scare the prince to death?"

Maiyume responded, "We were startled, that's all."

"We're terribly sorry, Your Highness." Both Chiyo and Maiyume bowed to properly greet the prince.

After the prince regained his composure, Syaoran suspiciously looked at the two servants. "Were there just two of you?"

Chiyo replied, "And the chickens, Your Highness." Maiyume nodded in agreement.

Syaoran could have sworn he saw the color emerald, but he shrugged it off. 'It couldn't have been her.'

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review!